Social media was ablaze Monday when it was reported Bill Belichick was working directly with the offense in the first OTAs of the season.
With Josh McDaniels departing for the Raiders, there have been major question marks as to who will be calling the plays on offense. Belichick and McDaniels coached 253 games together across 18 seasons. McDaniels's record as OC for the Patriots was 154-55-0, and he has six Super Bowl rings— all during the Tom Brady era.
Joe Judge confirmed last week he was working with the quarterbacks, while Matt Patricia confirmed he's been working with the offensive line.
But, it was Belichick himself who was working with the wide receivers.
The Patriots' long-time head coach gave no answers about who will be the play-caller or when the play-caller would be decided, saying, "When we get to it, we'll get to it."
Belichick, long considered a defensive-minded coach, said he's called plays and not called them, leaving Patriots fans and fantasy managers wondering if Belichick himself will be the man in charge this fall.
Fantasy managers should be concerned about the lack of an offensive coordinator for the Patriots. New England players have often been confusing to roster, and this doesn't make drafting them any easier. Judge has little experience with offensive coaching, and Patricia's win record was 13-19-1 with the Lions.
Last year under McDaniels and Belichick, Mac Jones had an alternately very good and very disappointing series of games, ranging from a two-touchdown, 307 yards, 22.2 fantasy points game vs. the Jets to a 19-yard, half-point (no, that's not a typo) fantasy point game vs. the Bills.
What will remain true is that the Patriots are about winning games, not producing fantasy stars.
Jones finished the season as the No. 18 overall QB, while Damien Harris had the most successful season among the Pats for fantasy managers, coming in at RB8. Jakobi Meyers finished as the top New England receiver, finishing 29th in PPR leagues.
The Patriots are currently +350 to win the AFC East, tied with the Miami Dolphins. Their win total is set at 8.5 games.
